Work making you sleepy? It’s happening to many in NJ

SADDLE BROOK — New York is known as the city that never sleeps, but across the crowded state of New Jersey, something's always going on. That may be why a recent poll of 1,000 workers, both here and around the country, found many of them are practically dozing off on the job.

The Accountemps survey released earlier this month revealed 74 percent of all professionals admitted being tired at work, 43 percent of them "somewhat often" and 31 percent "very often." Millennials led the pack, with 86 percent of respondents saying they felt tired, compared with just half of workers age 55 and over.

A gender split was almost even: 77 percent of men reported work sleepiness, as did 71 percent of women in the survey.

To "get to the root of the drowsiness," said Ryan Gatto, Saddle Brook-based regional vice president of Robert Half, the staffing firm agency that runs Accountemps, managers should keep an open dialogue with their employees.

"Encouraging your staff to take their scheduled breaks, I think, is important," Gatto said. "Workers also tend to follow their managers' lead, so if a manager's taking the time to rest and recharge, then more often than not the employee will follow suit."

One avenue that's been explored to help sleepy employees is the concept of a "nap room," but 31 percent of those surveyed were wary of that, for a few reasons. They said it might make them even sleepier, it would reduce the amount of work they were able to complete, and they might be perceived around the office as slackers.

"It's an interesting idea that some companies have instituted, but at the same time, many of the individuals that responded just don't believe that that would be a good use of their time," Gatto said.

Those who confessed to being tired at their desks did find it affected them in several distinct ways. Just over half (52 percent) reported a lack of focus, or becoming easily distracted; 47 percent said they procrastinated more; 38 percent thought they acted more "grumpy"; 29 percent said they made more mistakes.

Only 16 percent responded that drowsiness at work did not affect their production. As Gatto sees it, everyone must face this problem in their own way.

"I don't think anyone's extremely energetic at work, so most people, I do feel some sort of sense of tiredness and drowsiness and just a matter of, everyone, how do they cope with it?" he said.